JP2022112083A - automatic valet parking system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an automatic valet parking system which enables smooth operation by eliminating an area where a general vehicle and a pedestrian move while mixed with an automatic driving vehicle between a getting on/off area and a parking area.SOLUTION: A system includes a control device that causes an automatic driving vehicle C to perform unmanned automatically traveling between a getting on/off area Y and a parking area X by a wireless instruction, to make the automatic driving vehicle C enter or leave it. The system includes a standby area Z that is defined between the parking area X and the getting on/off area Y and prevents intrusion of an object other than the automatic driving vehicle C, an opening/closing mechanism 100 for separating the standby area Z and the getting on/off area Y and permitting entrance/exit of only the automatic driving vehicle C, an in-vehicle manned detection device for detecting presence/absence of an occupant in the automatic driving vehicle C, and an intrusion detection device 400 for detecting intrusion of the object other than the automatic driving wheel C into the standby area Z, wherein the control device outputs a control signal to the opening/closing mechanism 100, the automatic driving vehicle C and the parking area X on the basis of a detection signal from the in-vehicle manned detection device and the intrusion detection device 400.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to automated valet parking systems.

Conventionally, a parking system called valet parking is known in facilities such as hotels and restaurants.

In this type of valet parking, a vehicle that has been driven by oneself is entrusted to a professional porter to park the vehicle, and when going out or returning home, the porter is asked to drive the vehicle to the entrance. Automating the valet parking is being considered for the spread of self-driving cars in the future.

In other words, the occupant gets off from the automated driving vehicle in the boarding and alighting area set near the entrance/exit of the parking area, and the control device wirelessly connected to the automated driving vehicle automatically drives the automated driving vehicle to the parking area and enters the parking area. Also, it is considered that the automatic driving car is automatically driven from the parking area to the boarding/alighting area to exit the parking lot.

In addition, Patent Document 1, for example, shows the general technical level related to the parking system in which the automatically driven vehicle enters and exits the parking area without the involvement of the occupants. .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-214800

However, in the currently proposed automated valet parking, when an automated vehicle moves from the loading/unloading area to the parking area or from the parking area to the loading/unloading area, general vehicles and pedestrians move in a mixed manner with the automated vehicle. There are areas where the automatic driving vehicle is forced to stop suddenly, and there is a risk that the smooth operation of the system will be hindered, leaving room for improvement.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and eliminates the area where general vehicles and pedestrians move together with self-driving cars between the boarding and alighting area and the parking area to ensure smooth operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated valet parking system that achieves

The present invention provides a parking area in which an autonomous vehicle that can run automatically without the involvement of a passenger is parked, a boarding area in which a passenger gets on and off the autonomous vehicle, and an automatic parking area between the boarding and alighting area and the parking area. An automatic valet parking system comprising a control device for automatically driving a driver's vehicle in accordance with wireless instructions to enter and exit the parking lot,
a standby area defined between the parking area and the boarding/alighting area and preventing entry of objects other than the automatic driving vehicle;
an opening and closing mechanism that separates the waiting area from the boarding/alighting area and allows only entry and exit of the automatic driving vehicle;
an in-vehicle occupant detection device that detects the presence or absence of an occupant in the automatic driving vehicle;
An intrusion detection device that detects an intrusion of an object other than an automatic driving vehicle into the standby area,
The control device relates to an automated valet parking system that outputs control signals to an opening/closing mechanism, an automated vehicle, and a parking area based on detection signals from the in-vehicle occupancy detection device and the intrusion detection device.

In the automatic valet parking system, the control device opens and closes when the in-vehicle occupant detection device confirms that the autonomous vehicle is unmanned and the intrusion detection device confirms that there is no object intrusion into the waiting area at the time of parking. A control signal can be output to open the mechanism.

In the automatic valet parking system, the control device activates the opening/closing mechanism when the intrusion detection device confirms that an object does not enter the waiting area while the automatically driven vehicle to be left is waiting in the waiting area when leaving the parking lot. A control signal to open can be output.

In the automatic valet parking system, when the intrusion detection device confirms that an object has entered the standby area, the control device outputs a control signal to stop all automatically driven vehicles, and issues an abnormal warning to the parking area. It is possible to output a control signal to stop the operation when an abnormality occurs.

In the automated valet parking system, the waiting area may comprise compartments for a plurality of automated vehicles to wait.

According to the automated valet parking system of the present invention, there is no area between the boarding/alighting area and the parking area where general vehicles and pedestrians coexist with self-driving vehicles, thereby enabling smooth operation. can play

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic valet parking system of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example in which a lifter is provided between a waiting area and a parking area in an embodiment of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an opening and closing mechanism in an embodiment of the automated valet parking system of the present invention; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the in-vehicle presence detection apparatus in the Example of the automatic valet parking system of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the in-vehicle occupancy detection device in the embodiment of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention; It is a control block diagram in the example of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention. 1 is a flow chart for detecting an object entering a waiting area in an embodiment of the automated valet parking system of the present invention; 2 is a flow chart at the time of parking in the embodiment of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention; 2 is a flow chart at the time of exiting in the embodiment of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 9 are embodiments of the automatic valet parking system of the present invention.

This embodiment is characterized in that a standby area Z is defined between the parking area X and the boarding/alighting area Y to prevent objects other than the self-driving vehicle C from entering. The parking area X is an area in which an automatically driven vehicle C that can drive automatically without the involvement of a passenger is parked. be The boarding/alighting area Y is an area where a passenger gets on/off the automatic driving vehicle C. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which a lifter L is provided between the waiting area Z and the parking area X. When the parking area X is a self-propelled (multilevel) parking lot, the automatic In order to avoid the mixture of the driving vehicle C and the general vehicle, the automatically driving vehicle C is transported to the dedicated floor for the automatically driving vehicle C by the lifter L.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the waiting area Z includes a section Z1 in which a plurality of automatic driving vehicles C wait, and is surrounded by an intrusion prevention fence Z2. An opening/closing mechanism 100 is provided that isolates the boarding/alighting area Y and permits only the entry and exit of the automatic vehicle C.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the opening/closing mechanism 100 can employ a door 101, such as a station platform door, which slides left and right to open and close the entrance of the self-driving car C. As shown in FIG. However, it is needless to say that the door 101 is not limited to such a type, and various types of doors can be adopted.

Further, in the case of this embodiment, an in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 as shown in FIG. 4 or 5 is provided.

The in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 shown in FIG. 4 is an in-vehicle installation type. It can be employed as the manned detection device 200 . Further, the pressure sensor 202 may be embedded in the seat of the automatic driving vehicle C to form the in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 . A detection signal 200s from the human sensor 201 or pressure sensor 202 is received by a receiver 301 connected to a control device 300 (see FIG. 6), which will be described later.

On the other hand, the in-vehicle occupancy detection device 200 shown in FIG. 200 can be employed. A detection signal 200s from the monitoring sensor 203 is input to the control device 300 (see FIG. 6).

The in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 is a device for checking whether there are any passengers (persons) left in the automatic driving vehicle C, and the passengers include not only people but also animals such as pets.

Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, an intrusion detection device 400 for detecting an intrusion of an object other than the self-driving vehicle C into the waiting area Z is provided. The intrusion detection device 400 is, for example, a video camera 401 that captures an image of the vicinity of the opening/closing mechanism 100 in the waiting area Z, as shown in FIGS.

A detection signal 200 s from the in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 and a detection signal 400 s from the intrusion detection device 400 are input to a control device 300 as shown in FIG. and control signals 100s, Cs, and Xs to the opening/closing mechanism 100, the self-driving car C, and the parking area X based on the detection signals 200s and 400s from the intrusion detection device 400. FIG.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

The intrusion detection device 400 constantly detects the intrusion of an object other than the self-driving vehicle C into the waiting area Z, and as shown in FIG. When the intrusion is confirmed, in step S702, the control device 300 outputs a control signal Cs (see FIG. 6) to stop all the automatically driven vehicles C, and an abnormality warning is issued to the parking area X, and operation is stopped due to the occurrence of an abnormality. A control signal Xs (see FIG. 6) is output.

When entering the parking lot, the occupant performs a parking reservation operation from the occupant's own personal mobile terminal or a terminal such as an operation terminal installed in the boarding/alighting area Y of the automatic valet parking (see step S801 in FIG. 8).

After the parking reservation operation, the occupant stops the automatically driven vehicle C in the boarding/alighting area Y (see step S802 in FIG. 8) and gets off the vehicle (see step S803 in FIG. 8).

After getting off the vehicle, the occupant performs the parking operation from the terminal (see step S804 in FIG. 8), confirms that there are no people (including pets, etc.) in the automatic driving vehicle C, and inputs from the terminal (FIG. 8 (see step S805).

Upon receiving the unmanned confirmation from the passenger, the in-vehicle occupancy detection device 200 detects whether or not there is really a person (including a pet or the like) in the automatic driving vehicle C (see step S806 in FIG. 8). Here, in the case of the in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 of the in-vehicle installation type shown in FIG. A detection signal 200s from the sensor 202 is received by a receiver 301 connected to the control device 300 (see FIG. 6). 5, a detection signal 200s from a monitoring sensor 203 attached to the boarding/alighting area Y is input to the control device 300. As shown in FIG.

When the in-vehicle occupancy detection device 200 determines that there is a person (including a pet, etc.) in the self-driving vehicle C, the control device 300 sends a message "Please confirm that there is no one in the vehicle" to the terminal. is displayed to urge the crew to confirm the unattended state again (see step S807 in FIG. 8).

The in-vehicle presence detection device 200 confirms that there are no people (including pets, etc.) in the automatic driving car C, and the intrusion detection device 400 that constantly monitors (see step S808 in FIG. 8), When it is confirmed that no object has entered the standby area Z, a control signal 100s for opening the opening/closing mechanism 100 is output from the control device 300, and the opening/closing mechanism 100 is opened (see step S810 in FIG. 8). In addition, in step S808 in FIG. 8, when the intrusion detection device 400 confirms that an object has entered the waiting area Z, as in step S702 in FIG. A control signal Cs (see FIG. 6) for stopping the vehicle C is output, and a control signal Xs (see FIG. 6) for stopping the operation due to an abnormality warning and an abnormality is output to the parking area X.

When the opening/closing mechanism 100 is opened, the automatic vehicle C automatically enters the waiting area Z and parks in the vacant section Z1 (see step S811 in FIG. 8). 100 is closed (see step S812 in FIG. 8).

In addition, even when the automatic driving vehicle C is waiting for entry into the waiting area Z (see step S813 in FIG. 8), constant monitoring is performed by the intrusion detection device 400 (see step S814 in FIG. 8).

When a vehicle start command is output from the control device 300 (see step S815 in FIG. 8), the self-driving car C moves to the parking area X (see step S816 in FIG. 8) and parks at the designated position (see step S816 in FIG. 8). (see step S817 in step S817), the warehousing is completed.

On the other hand, at the time of leaving the parking lot, the passenger performs a leaving reservation operation from the passenger's own personal mobile terminal or a terminal such as an operation terminal installed in the boarding/alighting area Y of the automatic valet parking (see step S901 in FIG. 9).

In response to the passenger's departure reservation operation, the control device 300 outputs a vehicle start command to the corresponding automatic driving vehicle C (see step S902 in FIG. 9), and the automatic driving vehicle C moves from the parking position in the parking area X to the standby area. Move to Z (see step S903 in FIG. 9), park in the vacant section Z1 of the waiting area Z, and wait (see step S904 in FIG. 9).

Incidentally, even when the automatic driving vehicle C is waiting to leave the garage in the waiting area Z, constant monitoring by the intrusion detection device 400 is performed (see step S905 in FIG. 9). Here, when the intrusion detection device 400 confirms that an object has entered the standby area Z, as in step S702 in FIG. 7 and step S809 in FIG. 8, as step S906 in FIG. A control signal Cs (see FIG. 6) for stopping the vehicle C is output, and a control signal Xs (see FIG. 6) for stopping the operation due to the occurrence of an abnormality is output to the parking area X.

While the automatic driving vehicle C is waiting to leave the garage in the waiting area Z, when the occupant performs the leaving operation from the terminal (see step S907 in FIG. 9), the intrusion detection device 400 that is constantly monitoring (step in FIG. 9 S908), if it is confirmed that no object has entered the waiting area Z, the control device 300 outputs a control signal 100s for opening the opening/closing mechanism 100, and the opening/closing mechanism 100 is opened (see step S909 in FIG. 9). . In addition, in step S908 of FIG. 9, when the intrusion detection device 400 confirms that an object has entered the waiting area Z, a control signal Cs for stopping all the automatically driven vehicles C is sent from the control device 300 in step S906 of FIG. (see FIG. 6) is output, and an abnormality warning to the parking area X and a control signal Xs (see FIG. 6) for stopping operation due to the occurrence of an abnormality are output.

When the opening/closing mechanism 100 is opened, the automatic vehicle C automatically exits to the boarding/alighting area Y and stops (see step S910 in FIG. 9), and the opening/closing mechanism 100 is closed by an instruction from the control device 300 (see step S910 in FIG. 9). 9 step S911).

After that, the passenger gets into the automatically driven vehicle C which is stopped in the boarding/alighting area Y (see step S912 in FIG. 9), and the exit is completed.

As a result, unlike the automatic valet parking currently proposed, when the automatically driven vehicle C moves from the boarding/alighting area Y to the parking area X or from the parking area X to the boarding/alighting area Y, general vehicles and pedestrians are automatically driving. Since there is no area in which the automatic driving vehicle C moves in a mixed manner with the vehicle C, the automatic driving vehicle C will not be forced to stop suddenly, and there is no worry that the smooth operation of the system will be hindered.

In this way, there is no area between the boarding/alighting area Y and the parking area X in which general vehicles and pedestrians move together with the self-driving vehicle C, and smooth operation can be performed.

In the case of this embodiment, the control device 300 confirms that the in-vehicle occupant detection device 200 confirms that the self-driving vehicle C is unmanned, and the intrusion detection device 400 confirms that there is no object intrusion into the standby area Z when the vehicle enters the vehicle. In this case, a control signal 100s for opening the opening/closing mechanism 100 is output. With this configuration, only the automatically driven vehicle C exists in the waiting area Z, and contact between the automatically driven vehicle C and a person or object can be avoided, and warehousing can proceed smoothly.

In addition, when the control device 300 confirms that the intrusion detection device 400 does not enter the waiting area Z while the automatically driven vehicle C to be left is waiting in the waiting area Z at the time of leaving the parking lot, the opening/closing mechanism 100 is designed to output a control signal to open the With this configuration, it is possible to avoid contact between the automatic driving vehicle C and the object that exits from the waiting area Z to the boarding/alighting area Y, and to proceed with leaving the parking lot smoothly.

Further, when the intrusion detection device 400 confirms that an object has entered the standby area Z, the control device 300 outputs a control signal to stop all the automatically driven vehicles C, and issues an abnormality warning to the parking area X. It is designed to output a control signal to stop operation when an abnormality occurs. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the automatically driven vehicle C from coming into contact with an object that has entered the waiting area Z, and to inform the attendant of the automatic valet parking of the abnormality so that it can be dealt with.

Furthermore, the waiting area Z has a section Z1 in which a plurality of automatic driving vehicles C are waiting. If configured in this manner, it is effective in mitigating the formation of a queue of automatically driven vehicles C waiting to be parked in the boarding/alighting area Y.

It should be noted that the automatic valet parking system of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and of course various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

100 Opening and closing mechanism 100s Control signal 101 Door 200 In-vehicle occupant detection device 200s Detection signal 201 Human sensor 202 Pressure sensor 203 Monitoring sensor 300 Control device 301 Receiver 400 Intrusion detection device 400s Detection signal 401 Video camera C Self-driving car Cs Control signal L Lifter X Parking area Xs Control signal Y Boarding area Z Waiting area Z1 Section Z2 Intrusion prevention fence

Claims (5)

A parking area where a self-driving car that can drive freely without the involvement of a passenger is parked, a boarding area where a passenger gets in and out of the self-driving car, and wireless communication between the boarding/alighting area and the parking area. An automatic valet parking system equipped with a control device for unmanned automatic driving and entering and leaving the parking lot according to instructions in
a standby area defined between the parking area and the boarding/alighting area and preventing entry of objects other than the automatic driving vehicle;
an opening and closing mechanism that separates the waiting area from the boarding/alighting area and allows only entry and exit of the automatic driving vehicle;
an in-vehicle occupant detection device that detects the presence or absence of an occupant in the automatic driving vehicle;
An intrusion detection device that detects an intrusion of an object other than an automatic driving vehicle into the standby area,
The control device outputs a control signal to an opening/closing mechanism, an autonomous vehicle, and a parking area based on detection signals from the in-vehicle occupancy detection device and the intrusion detection device. When the in-vehicle occupant detection device confirms that the autonomous vehicle is unmanned and the intrusion detection device confirms that there is no object intrusion into the standby area, the control device outputs a control signal to open the opening and closing mechanism when entering the parking lot. 2. The automated valet parking system of claim 1. The control device outputs a control signal to open the opening/closing mechanism when the intrusion detection device confirms that no object has entered the waiting area while the self-driving vehicle to be left is waiting in the waiting area at the time of leaving the garage. Item 3. The automatic valet parking system according to item 1 or 2. When the intrusion detection device confirms that an object has entered the standby area, the control device outputs a control signal to stop all the automatic driving vehicles, and issues an abnormality warning to the parking area and stops operation due to the occurrence of an abnormality. An automatic valet parking system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which outputs a control signal. The automatic valet parking system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the waiting area comprises a section in which a plurality of automatically driven vehicles are waiting.

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